Adventure Fifteen: Softly As A Morning Sunrise
We triage the wounded, and the area of effect healing raises the deathclaw. P0P1 puts it down again and then takes its horns and claws. * The Scorps police force arrives, wearing armor of US military origin that is modified with scorpion chitin. Their leader, Mergala, identifies the building the deathclaw emerged from as a warehouse owned by a merchant named Mavu. * Officers escort us to the mayor’s manor, a relatively modest building, to meet Kegan. He tells us the people of Scorps are calling us the Science Heroes. * Kegan shares the current news/rumors about the founders of Freehaven: Earl supposedly became increasingly violent, went mad, and murdered Alder when she tried to help him. Idith’s current location is unknown. Mac went back east and secured trade routes, becoming less involved in Freehaven. Ferrier went off with the super mutants to resume his search of Camelot. Morrigan went north to found her own colony. Walker died in the war with the Atomac. Meghan remains as mayor of Freehaven. * Kegan explains that only those who can procreate and perpetuate the human race are eligible for the Scorps food rations. In the 4 years since the founding of Scorps, those on the scorpion rations have become healthier, including a reduced infant mortality rate. The people of the town consider the scorpion their god and protector, and Kegan has not been able to shake their assumption that he is a religious figure connected to the scorpion. * Ruth determines that the scorpion meat is extremely high in vitamin A, and the skin peeling is the result of vitamin A toxicity. * The only known group that has an association with deathclaws is the East Coast faction of the Enclave, which is known to have technology even more advanced than the Brotherhood of Steel. They have been sighted using mind-control technology on deathclaws. * We ask Kegan to provide housing for the Moreaus and Seshayans before going to investigate Mavu’s warehouse. * Inside the warehouse are the remnants of a recently destroyed Protrectron. Earl, Ruth, and P0P1 search for enough pieces to repair its hard drive and recover its memory logs. It had been running the program “Feed the beast” constantly for the entire length of its stored logs, a period of months, until its final second, in which it attempted to run the program “Self-defense.” The program was installed via holotape by a Mavu employee, but according to its logs, it has not encountered a Mavu employee for the duration of its stored logs. The food pick-up and waste drop-off was structured in such a way that the Protectron never encountered any employees. * The cage that housed the deathclaw was strong enough to withstand the building collapsing on it, but it would not have been strong enough to contain it, indicating that it was being controlled to keep it docile. Tracks indicated that the Protectron moved around inside the cage more than the deathclaw did. * Kegan informs us of an invitation to the Cusp of Sunrise Club from a woman named Celeste who works for a man named Davked, for a business proposal regarding housing for the Moreaus and Seshayans. * The Cusp of Sunrise Club is built in what was formerly the control room at the top of a tower. It contains various signs of wealth, including a reclaimed mahogany desk, walls of bookshelves, and a harpsichord, and people dining and gambling.